A paper shredder generally comprises a pair of blade shafts in a shredder housing, the shafts having interdigitating rotating blades into which the paper or other sheet material carrying information is fed so that the information carrier will be cut up into strips and collected in a bin, chamber or other collector with which the cutting assembly is associated. Additional cutter elements may also be provided to further subdivide the strips.
Generally between the blades of each shaft in the cutter zone stripper bars or fingers may be provided to prevent the cut-up information carriers from collecting around the blade shaft and for guiding the cut material into a collector. A collecting of the comminuted material between the blades can lead to an interruption in the operation of the shredder.
In German Open Application DE 0S 36 16 554, a stripper element in the form of a bar grate is provided in one piece and is fastened at the lateral points of the cutter assembly at which the bearings of the blade shafts are mounted. This system can be complex and expensive.